Consumerism and Excess
The Ladies’ Paradise explores the rise of the department store model in the late 19th century. Mouret’s big department store, the Ladies’ Paradise, brings together under one roof all the goods that previously, one had to visit multiple small shops to purchase. So, instead of visiting a fabric seller, a glovemaker, and a perfume shop separately, shoppers—who are overwhelmingly female—can now find all those items (and countless others) in one place. This business…
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Women, Exploitation, and Power
The Ladies’ Paradise explores the various ways in which men can exploit women. However, it also suggests that women can gain power by refusing to play men’s games, while also keeping their sights set on goals that help women. Mouret founds his big department store, the Ladies’ Paradise, on the very idea that women are subservient to him. His store is “a temple to Woman” that, by offering every product a woman could ever…
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Tradition vs. Modernity
In The Ladies’ Paradise, small shops battle for survival against Mouret’s big department store, the Ladies’ Paradise. The small shops represent “old Paris,” following traditional business methods in which they sell a small, specialized range of products at a high price. In contrast, the Ladies’ Paradise—which represents “new Paris”—ignores traditional business models, instead sourcing hundreds of different goods to sell at low prices and creating an overwhelming and intoxicating atmosphere to draw…
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Class and Mobility
Set in late 19th-century Paris, The Ladies’ Paradise portrays a society made up of distinct social classes. Denise and her brothers arrive in Paris in “the third-class carriage,” with no money or importance. Above them, there are small businessowners like the Baudus, and finally the remnants of the aristocracy, such as Madame Desforges and Madame de Boves. In this highly stratified society, the Ladies’ Paradise—Mouret’s big department store—brings all the classes…
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